Obama as Chief Executive
On Salon Table Talk, a McCain supporter asks,
JL, please ‘splain to me where Senator O got all of his “executive ability”, will you please?
I reply,
Let me be honest with you; I don’t know where he got it. That he has it, however, no doubt about that. What do you make of someone who starts out as junior, still relatively unknown Senator from Illinois, goes up against the Clinton machine whose experience, expertise and starting position way ahead in cash on hand and pledged delegates makes it look like he’s going to be stopped before he gets started. Suddenly there’s a nationwide organization, raising more money than anyone before in the history of American politics, innovating at the edge of Internet politics while assembling a ground game that is also unprecedented in scale. The candidate is surrounded by really smart, capable people, who work together like a well-oiled machine. They execute a strategy that turns conventional wisdom upside down. Now they’re ahead in the polls, dominating the media cycle, and have forced the opposition into a feeble, reactive response that shows no strategic innovation at all.
That’s plenty of evidence of outstanding executive ability for me. Got something else in mind?
Posted: July 26th, 2008 under Best of the Blogs.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from Sam Snark
Time: July 27, 2008, 6:18 am
Actually I think he acquired it during his brainwashing sessions in
Iran. The “missing months” paid off big time for the Muslims when he was kidnapped back in the early 90’s, flown to the middle east and made the Islamist Manchurian Candidate.
They allowed him to practice his newly learned executive talent on other prison inmates, staff and on the many rodents in the building.
To this day they still maintain the hierarchical system he implemented in the cafeteria kitchen, the yearly “Trusty Trustee” campaign and the GOTMV (Get Out the Mouse Vote) he organized when the roaches nearly became the dominant force in the prison.
The prison commandant was so impressed with his abilities that he actually tried to keep him there for another month to give him some extra time to oversee a new latrine system but was overruled by his superiors when they pointed out there was only so much organizing that you can do with 3 guys with buckets and 4 holes in the ground.
Comment from Sasha
Time: July 27, 2008, 6:29 am
I would like to know where Senator McCain got all of this executive ability, because I don’t see that he has any.
Comment from Sandy
Time: July 27, 2008, 6:33 am
Sam Snark,
If this is an attempt at satire your as off the mark as was the Newyorker; iIf you really believe this, get to a shrink ASAP!
Comment from Sam Snark
Time: July 27, 2008, 7:03 am
Well Sandy, I do admit there’s some doubt in my mind about whether he organized the cafeteria staff and implemented the trustee campaign but I have it on very good authority he definately got the mice to vote in a surprisingly democratic fashion!
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: July 27, 2008, 7:14 am
Sam, I thought this was pretty funny.
As I see it and read about him, his skills come from his ability to organize, one of the keys of successful executives. The more complex the task and the more divergent the views around the table, the better at organizing he appears to be. Several commentators noted this on his recent trip to the Middle East, and Obama writes about his experiences in his book, Audacity of Hope, that I’ve been reading lately.
Comment from I.B. Lever
Time: July 27, 2008, 9:00 am
Sam, it appears you’ve been having “in depth discussions” with a shit house rat, something no one here has the desire or the political influential ability to pull off. Please keep up the good work and feel free to inform us of any further exploratory documentation.
P.S. While down there, say hello to Butch and Chinny and give them our best ..
Write a comment